A VERY TAME STAG HUNT 37 



and walked not less than fourteen stone. It was not so 

 much the opulent presence or sartorial garniture of this 

 gallant staghunter that impressed my companion and 

 myself, however, as the great talent he displayed in the 

 gentle art of playing his own little trumpet and the deft 

 and clever manner in which he recovered himself after 

 stumbling heavily at such difficult obstacles as aspirates. 

 " My stud consists of seven 'unt— h'm ! Jiuntem ; all 

 fine hup — h'm ! upstsmding 'ors — h'm ! Worses and 

 good weight carriers to boot," we heard him tell a very 

 bored-looking lady in a brown habit, who rephed some- 

 what irrelevantly, that she " wished to heaven that they 

 would uncart the stupid old stag," and then gazed list- 

 lessly at the hounds waiting patiently outside. 



Of the local " Tattersall's " prowess in the hunting 

 field we heard not a little — from his own lips — and later 

 in the day it was our privilege to witness his skill and 

 courage as a horseman. 



But we must leave this gay and festive scene, for a 

 foxy-faced, swivel-eyed little man in velvet cap and 

 green livery, the driver of the deer cart, pokes his head 

 through the coffee-room doorway and bawls : " If any 

 lady or gen'leman wants to see the stag turned down 

 they'd best hurry up as the maister jest give orders for 

 the cart to be drove up Bell Hill." 



Upon hearing this important announcement, about 

 a dozen of the followers of the hunt, including the bored 

 lady in the brown habit, went out into the great court- 

 yard and were soon in the saddle, while Barker and 



